Barbie’s more curvy frame seen as victory for regular women everywhere

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This photo provided by Mattel shows a new, curvy Barbie Fashionista doll introduced in January 2016. Mattel, the maker of the famous plastic doll, said it will start selling Barbie s in three new body types: tall, curvy and petite. She ll also come in seven skin tones, 22 eye colors and 24 hairstyles. (Mattel via AP)

Women all over are rejoicing at the news: Barbie now looks a bit more like the rest of us, with curves and all.

Mattel, the maker of Barbie, on Thursday unveiled its new line of curvy, petite and tall versions of its iconic doll, whose unrealistically thin shape (with big, perky breasts) has attracted criticism for decades. The three body types will also come in an assortment of skin tones, eye color and hairstyles.

“Love this!! I think it so important for little girls to see their reflection in Barbie,” tweeted @AshleyBrittney.

“This is so important and so past due. You go Barbie,” tweeted @brookxwatson.

Yes, it is important, though how important remains to be seen. Still, many on social media, as well as Bay Area-based body positive activists and writers see the Barbie makeover as a another hopeful sign in the past few years that cultural attitudes are starting to shift around women’s bodies.

It’s at least important enough that Barbie is this week’s cover girl for Time, which called the makeover the biggest change in the 57-year-old history of the world’s biggest-selling doll.

Virgie Tovar, a San Francisco body image expert, said it represents the extent to which body positive and fat politics have made “incredible headway culturally.”

“Barbie has long been a symbol of ideal femininity in the US — blonde, busty, cheery, and impossibly narrow waisted,” she says. “Barbie represents a litmus test when it comes to the state of gender norms, and I’m excited to see this change.

Chrystal Bourgon, owner of San Jose’s San Jose’s plus-sized lingerie shop Curvy Girl, was a bit more guarded in her praise. “I still do not see my body though,” she says. “Not all curvy bodies are hour-glass-shaped. But Mattel set a very low bar with the original Barbie: a body with proportions that could really only be obtained through surgery and augmentation.”

Still, she notes, it’s start.

“When I think about the original, then yes, it is a good step in the right direction. Any movement that creates representation and diversity is good in my book.”

At first, Mattel will only sell the new different-shaped Barbies online but it hopes to begin making them available in stores as soon as March. And it looks like the company will continue marketing its traditional Barbies.

But it appears that Mattel is saying — finally — it gets it. And the company looks to be distinguishing itself from other institutions in the fashion and entertainment worlds that are largely built on upholding unhealthy standards of beauty — and making girls and women feel lousy if they don’t conform to those standards.

Certainly, bottom-line considerations came into play. Barbie was once Mattel’s powerhouse brand, but sales have plummeted in recent years, as the doll struggled to remain relevant to little girls who do not look like her, the New York Times reported.

“A new generation of mothers favor what they perceive as more—empowering toys for their daughters,” concedes Evelyn Mazzoco, head of the Barbie brand.

Barbie’s transformation has been a while coming. Last year, Mattel last year introduced 23 new dolls with different skin tones, hairstyles, outfits and flat feet, rather than the pointy ones meant to fit into sky-high heels. But this makeover is seen as far more significant.

Mattel’s profit motive makes some wary, including Ravneet Vohra, editor of Wear Your Voice, an Oakland-based online women’s magazine and social media brand. She sees opportunism in the makeover, especially given that Mattel isn’t discontinuing it’s original stick-thin model.

“Mattel seems to have jumped onto the body positivity/diversity band wagon and created what the market wants to see more of, which does however show they are listening,” she says. “I applaud Mattel for trying, but until they make original Barbie disappear I am just not buying into it.”

It will be interesting to see if the transformation helps reverse Barbie’s commercial decline and keeps her a coveted toy among kids into the 21st century. But, in the end, the cultural impact could be more lasting, especially if other institutions of fashion and entertainment fall in line, and we start seeing different shaped models and actresses on Hollywood red carpets, on the fashion runways or in the pages of Vogue.

Martha Ross is a features writer who covers everything and anything related to popular culture, society, health, women’s issues and families. A native of the East Bay and a graduate of Northwestern University and Mills College, she’s also a former hard-news and investigative reporter, covering crime and local politics.